And advertising revenue per thousand timeline views was $1.60, up 100%.

Those numbers sent shares up more than 35% in after-hours trading.

The quarter could mark a new chapter for Twitter. Since its IPO, the defining narrative has been growth.

Twitter has had no trouble making money from advertising. But investors have been far more concerned with Twitter's capacity to add users and keep them engaged than its capacity to grow revenues.

Why the fixation on growth?

Twitter must show that it's giving advertisers a growing audience to target, Kessler said.

And scale also matters. Much as Twitter has tried to avoid comparisons to Facebook, it looks diminutive next to the giant social network. Facebook added 40 million users in the second quarter to give it 1.32 billion.

Also, Twitter shoulders some of the blame for the focus on growth, Kessler says.

"That's what Twitter pointed people to focus on even before they went public," Kessler said. "They highlighted some metrics that they thought would be a good way to track progress."

"Unfortunately for them, those metrics have become arguably less favorable and less relevant over the last number of months," Kessler said. "And that has notably contributed to some of the confusion and disappointment."

But now Twitter has a new storyteller who knows how to talk to Wall Street. Earlier this month Twitter appointed Anthony Noto as its chief financial officer. The top technology banker from Goldman Sachs, Noto led Twitter through its IPO.

Twitter will soon release new metrics to illustrate its reach beyond those users who log into the service each month, The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this month.

"If anyone knows what Wall Street analysts and investors want, it's him," Kessler said. "One would think he was brought in to better understand and communicate with the investment community."